Structure

The short story “The Little Black Dress” by Clifford Thurlow is structured around the inner struggle of Vicky, the protagonist; because she feels bored and frustrated with her life, Vicky splurges on a little black dress and decides to enjoy a night of being alone and free. However, the little black dress proves to be more than a simple item of clothing. The story has an exposition, a rising action, a climax, a falling action, and a resolution, following a traditional plot structure.

Title

The title of the story is very straightforward and refers to the item of clothing that captures Vicky’s attention and triggers her decision to change something in her boring life:

Vicky walks through a narrow mews she has taken by accident. She is only a few minutes from the club but feels lost, miles from anywhere. She comes to a stop outside a shop and gazes up at a little black dress that is short, sleeveless, unassuming. Like me, she thinks. (ll. 1-4)

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Beginning

The exposition of the story is quite lengthy and presents Vicky’s frustration with her life. Her attention is captured by a little black dress displayed in a shop. In the beginning, the shop’s window functions as a wake-up call for Vicky, ...

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Middle

In the rising action, we see Vicky deciding to make a change by buying the little black dress she saw in the shop. A foreshadowing element is introduced here, and it is related to the strange way the black dress makes her feel:

Vicky slips off her clothes. Her skin tingles as she pulls the dress over 145 her head. She runs her hands down her arms, over her breasts. The world starts to spin. She finds it hard to breathe and for a second it feels as if a stranger’s fingers are reaching for her throat. She stumbles barefoot into the shop, gasping for air.” (ll. 144-148)

The reference to a stranger’s fingers on her throat foreshadows the detail revealed at the end of the short story, where Vicky discovers that a model wearing the little black dress was strangled in 1968. After buying several more items of clothing and accessories, Vicky decides to spoil herself. Because her husband is out of town, she dresses up in everything she bought and goes out to a bar.

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Ending

The falling action presents Vicky after her return home. In the morning, Vicky goes to work and passes the shop where she bought the little black dress from. However, the shop is deserted, and Vicky can hardly believe it is the same place:

It’s closed, and she wouldn’t have thought it was the same shop if it wasn’t for the mannequin in the window. Her head has been removed and is lying on the floor. Her hair has gone; there are scratches on her plaster skin. (ll. 440-443)

Vicky quits her job at the fitness club and leaves the dress to Amanda, her colleague.

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